Sparks of Life
by yamisakura1222
Summary: Izzy dies and must find a way to make the wrongs in his past life right again. However, doing so may leave him with a less than desireable judgment to face later. IzzyOC R&R change in rating because of future chapters UPDATE chap 6 up
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the "blonde boy", Only the strangers who find him.

Chapter 1: Gravedigger

Dilapidated house. Winter storm brewing. A lost soul all alone. Shivering, laying on a small mattress with no blanket and barely a solid roof over his head, the blonde boy closed his eyes and curled up into a tight ball; ready fall into a peaceful slumber and never awaken again. The wind whistled outside as the storm grew stronger. The temperature continued to drop as the night carried on; freezing the young boy's body to its core. He lost feeling in his fingers and toes, then his arms and legs. He soon found himself too cold to stay awake and fell into a deep sleep. The last thoughts that circled in his mind were thoughts of his fellow band mates; the very people who abandoned him a week before. He thought they were a family, but apparently he was mistaken. A lone tear fell from his eye as he closed them for the last time. The boy never woke up again.

A female figure approaches the dilapidated house, clad in a black trench coat and wearing a top hat. She quietly enters the house, being careful to push the door open without it falling off the rusted hinges. Stepping lightly, she walks to the room where the boy is laying, now lifeless. She approaches his side, reaches out with a gloved hand and caresses the side of his face gently.

"It's too late for this one." She speaks to herself. She retracts her hand from his face, reaches into her coat and pulls out a notebook. A man, dressed the same as she, appears from the shadows behind her.

"What do you want to do with him?" he asks casually. He leans against the wall, waiting for his friend's response. She reads from her notebook and marks something down before returning it to its resting place in her coat.

"…He wasn't supposed to be here. No one has lived in this house for years, and according to protocol, we should take him somewhere else so he'll be found, identified and buried by the proper authorities. But…" she trails off leaving her statement unfinished.

"What's wrong?"

"He has this mark. Come take a look." She carefully brushes the boy's long hair back, exposing part of his neck and revealing a small symbol. A pointed cross above an "X". When her friend sees the mark, his eyes widen for a moment before he turns to look her in the face.

"You can't be serious…"

"This isn't a coincidence. That is a legit No-Life tattoo, which means he has technically been dead for ten years."

"That can't be right he just popped up on our radar as we were passing by! He couldn't have been dead for ten years and we're just now finding him. His body isn't even decaying yet." He pokes the boy's chest as he speaks. The girl slaps his hand hard.

"Have you no respect for the dead! Anyway, I think I know what happened to him. And if I'm right, we need to get him out of here now." She checks her watch and pulls out her small notebook again. She opens to a fresh page, writes something down and tears the page out of the book. She says a prayer quietly and places the paper on the boy's head. It glows for a moment, and then disappears. She opens her notebook again, finding the page she tore out. "Okay we have approval to move the body. Pick him up, we're taking him home."

"Home? We're not burying him?" he asks as he bends over to scoop up the body into his arms.

"No. We don't have authorization to burying someone in his case. He was supposed to already be dead, remember? We're going to take him home with us and figure out what exactly went on with him."

"And we're going to do that how?"

"Well…we're going to call his spirit back. It shouldn't be too hard. I'm willing to bet it's in purgatory." She looks out the window at the half moon in the sky. "Come on, let's go." The girl walks out the same way she entered; her guy friend simply disappears into the same shadowy corner which he appeared with the boy's body in his arms.

A/N: Okay, not my first fanfic (or second, or third) but the first I am willing to upload to this site. Critics are welcome, please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Yea yea, you know it already _ I dont own Izzy, only Xaimy and Axel (not GH) -_-

Chapter 2: Recalling Life

A mansion. Winter storm at full speed. The gravediggers return home. The blonde boy is placed on a large bed in a large room in the large home. The man who carried him removes his hat, revealing his stunning red hair. His female friend walks into the room, now void of her black coat and hat as well. She wears a black shirt and has dark red hair, not as bright as her friend's. She carries an old telephone with a spin-dial and what looks to be the cords of a heart rate monitor. She places these things on the bed next to the boy's body.

"Well, you ready to call him back?" she looks at her friend who seems rather doubtful. "Are you sure this will work? I mean, won't we get in trouble for calling him back to life when he was supposed to be dead years ago anyway?" he says apprehensively.

"Typically, yes. But I spoke with management and they gave me the okay for this. Besides, I ran my theory past them and according to their records, everything I originally thought matched up perfectly." She begins to hook up the cords to the boy's body; one on his silent heart, another on his head.

"Okay, but what exactly _is_ your theory for this kid?" he sits in a chair beside the bed and watches.

"Well, seeing as he was alone and had the tattoo on his neck, I immediately thought that if he were already supposed to be dead, then he must have made a deal with the devil sometime in the past; approximately ten years ago. My guess is he gave away something in order to continue on living…but whatever he gave away must have been too hard to live without, so in due time he died anyway."

"What makes you think he gave up something that was too hard to live without?"

"Well, he died alone, in a dilapidated house just outside of a large city. He could have walked somewhere and been seen by someone, but he chose to stay there and perish in the cold. It almost seems suicidal now that I think about it. He wanted to die in the cold because it's painless and quiet. I don't think he wanted to chance anyone finding him." She gently strokes his face and finishes attaching cords to him. "Well, he's ready. All we can do now is hope he answers the phone and doesn't waste any precious time. I can only speak on the Spirit Phone for so long." With that, she dials an eleven digit number on the phone and holds the receiver to her ear. The phone rings once. Twice. Three times. Four times; and then an answer. A soft, seemingly scared male voice answers her call.

"H-Hello?"

"Hello there. Is this Ishmael? Ishmael Skraps?"

"Yes…how do you know my name? Who is this?" the voice trembles as it speaks.

"My name is Xaimy and…well, I have your body here."

"Wh-What? How can that be, I am right here! You must be joking-

"I have your body and you are a spirit. The only reason I can talk to you like this is because you are in purgatory. I am sure that you are well aware that you don't recognize any of your surroundings. If you want to return to your body, just say so." Xaimy speaks fast because she knows she is running out of time.

"I don't understand, if my body is there, how am I _here_? This makes no-

"Just say you want to return. I can place you back into your body. Say it if you want me to!" Xaimy raises her voice, sounding more desperate because of time wasting away.

"…Y-Yes, I want to return." Almost instantaneously, Ishmael's body glows, and his chest expands as he begins breathing yet again. He takes in a deep breath of air and opens his eyes. His body then stops glowing. Xaimy gently grabs his wrist and checks for his pulse. His heart beats rather quickly at first, but soon calms down and returns to normal pace. She unhooks the cords from him and puts the telephone aside on a table. Xaimy's male friend is the first to speak.

"Well I'll be damned. It worked." He sits up in the chair and looks over at Xaimy. "Now what?" Xaimy sits down on the edge of the bed and gently strokes the side of Ishmael's face.

"Do you feel alright? Are you in any pain?"

The blonde boy speaks softly. "No, I feel just fine. But what happened? Where am I now?" Xaimy helps him sit up and brushes his hair out of his face. She catches a glimpse of the tattoo on his neck once again. She smiles at him sweetly.

"I am Xaimy, the one who you spoke with not too long ago. This is my friend, Axel." she says motioning over to her red-headed friend. He waves. "We are Gravediggers. Not the kind that you are familiar with on Earth, but the spiritual kind. We only go out to find people who die alone, away from anyone else who would notice and make them noticeable for other people to find, typically so the dead can be buried. Sometimes we bury the dead ourselves. But in your case, we had to make an exception." Ishmael shakes his head in confusion.

"What do you mean "exception"? What happened to me?"

"Well, that's what we are trying to figure out. You died alone in a very dilapidated house, and so you showed up on our radar as we were passing by. However, you have a mark on the back of your neck, which we call a No-Life tattoo. It shows how long you have been dead by adding one year to the number under the cross every year on the anniversary of your death." She turns her head to show him her own No-Life tattoo, which shows the pointed cross and the letters DCCCLXXVII. "The numbers are shown in roman numerals. I have been dead for 877 years. The tattoo you have says you have been dead for ten years." Xaimy stops speaking and reaches in the drawer of a nearby table to grab a mirror. She holds it up for him to see his own tattoo on the side of his neck. "This tattoo never lies. You were supposed to be dead ten years ago, yet you still walked the land of the living as a normal human being. I don't want to pry into your personal life, but would you mind explaining this to us? Needless to say we are a bit confused." Xaimy puts the mirror down and stares him in the eyes. She can see fear and sadness swirling around in his mind. She reaches out and gently touches his young face again, hoping to soothe away his fear. He subconsciously nudges her hand. It has been a long time since he felt such a gentle touch. He takes in a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"A long time ago I was really sick. I was seven at the time and I thought I was going to die. I was always in pain, my family rarely came to visit me while I was in the hospital and no one wanted to be my friend. They all seemed to know that I wouldn't be around for much longer, so what was the point of getting to know me or anything. This guy came into my room with the nurse one day while I was at the hospital. She said that he was a doctor and that he would be able to help me. All I had to do was…ask him." Xaimy looks at Axel who returns her same expression. They knew the devil would use anything to bind a contract, but of course a seven-year-old wouldn't. Ishmael continued his story. "I did ask him and he said he would make all my physical pain go away. He said that when I was older, he would find me so he could get something in return for helping me out now. The next day, I don't know what he did, but I was all better. I went home and never went to the hospital for a sickness again. I never saw that man again until I was 15." Xaimy shakes her head and lets out a light sigh.

"I see. When you were seven years old, you probably were supposed to die of illness. But on the day that you were supposed to die, he sealed your soul into your body, allowing you to live for however long he would allow. Tell me, what happened when you saw him the second time?"

"Well, he said it was time for him to collect his payment for helping me. He gave me three options. One was to become sick again and hope I would survive it on my own. The second was to work for him for eight years, since it took him that long to wait to collect his payment. The third option, the one I chose, was to be put through four years of emotional pain. He only said four years because some say emotional pain is twice as brutal as physical pain. And I suppose he knew that I wouldn't be able to live through it. I died two years later." Ishmael's voice breaks, as if he were about to cry. Xaimy wraps her arms around him gently and rubs his back. Axel leans back in his chair.

"There's a reason we call that bastard 'The Trickster'. He'll use anything to bind a half-assed contract with anyone who can talk. One of those 'I'll take away your pain now if you let me kill you later' type of deals." Ishmael subconsciously snuggles into Xaimy's arms. She hugs him and cuddles him like a child.

"Well because of that whole ordeal, you're more or less stuck here with us Ishmael. Things like this take time to sort out. Now," she holds him away from her and looks into his face, "you're _our_ responsibility. And we take our responsibility seriously." She smiles at him and hugs him again. He speaks in a barely audible voice.

"Thank…you. I prayed…for so long…that someone would come and save me." Xaimy giggles lightly.

"Well you should have known that God would hear you. That's what your name means after all." He looks up at her through her arms.

"What? My name?"

"Yes, 'Ishmael'. It's a Hebrew name, meaning "God will hear". You didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't. No one ever really called me by my real name and I never really thought about it." He relaxes back into her embrace. "God will hear…and He did." Axel looks at his watch and stands up.

"Well, it's getting late and I'm sure our new buddy is rather tired now. We all need to get some rest." Xaimy looks at her own watch and realizes the time.

"Hmm, yes I suppose you're right Axel. We have to fill out our report first."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm going to get started on that now. I'll see you two in the morning." Axel takes his leave and quietly closes the door behind him. Xaimy stands from the bed, only to have a desperate soul reach out and grab her hand.

"Do…you really need to leave? I understand if you're tired, but I'm not. Not really." Xaimy giggles again and turns around, not letting his hand go.

"I take it you don't want to be alone tonight, do you?"

"No…I really don't. I know I must seem like a desperate…lonely…jerk or something, but I really don't want to be alone anymore…not after what I've been through." Xaimy sits back down on the bed. She reaches up and pats the top of his head, as if he were a small child. He looks down and blushes.

"Ishmael, if you want to stay with me tonight, you can. However I am not staying in here, when my master suite is down the hall." Ishmael looks up at her with. For the first time in a long time, happiness was in his golden-brown eyes. "Come on, let's go." She stands up again, this time with him following behind her and still holding her hand. "For a 17-year-old, you seem like such a child right now Ishmael."

"…Izzy."

"Huh?"

"You can call me Izzy. That's what everyone would call me. I actually like it better." Izzy follows Xaimy down the hall to a large door. She opens it, revealing a very large space of darkness. Izzy couldn't see anything.

"Okay then, Izzy is what I will call you if that is what you prefer." Still holding his hand, she leads him to her large bed, which is surrounded by a thick, black curtain; not that he could see anything in this pitch black room anyway. She leads him into her bed and turns to leave. "I'll be right back. I need to change into my pajamas." Within minutes, she returns to find Izzy curled up into a ball, much like when she found his lifeless body. She lets out a light giggle, and tucks him in. He squirms around and smiles. Xaimy curls up under her blanket and closes her eyes. "Goodnight, Izzy."

"Goodnight, Xaimy." They both fall into a peaceful sleep.

A/N: Xaimy is my OC, and Axel is modeled after a KH2 character (kudos if you know who) and my personal best friend named Axel. I use him as Xaimy's friend in most of my stories.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: ...need I say it again? I own nothing but Xaimy and Axel

Chapter 3: Absolution

A dark space. Cold and dingy. Angry voices directed to one sad soul.

"You are so selfish!"

"I can't believe we trusted you with this…"

"Why are you always such a jerk Sparks?

People, very upset people, yell at Izzy while all he can do is sit and listen. Then, they are all gone. Izzy is all alone. He curls up into a ball and sits in the darkness. Just then, seemingly in the distance, he hears a voice.

"Izzy? Izzy…wake up." Izzy opens his eyes…and sees a set of bright red eyes staring back at him. He was dreaming. Xaimy has just roused him from his nightmare. "Are you awake now? Ha-ha, you are such a sleepy head. Come on, get up." Xaimy stands over him and shakes him gently. Izzy blinks a few times before sitting up. He sighs heavily and places his head in his hands, covering his face. Xaimy stares at him, knowing already that he's had a nightmare. He was practically whimpering in his sleep. She raises her hand and pats him on the head, same as she did the night before. "Are you okay Izzy?"

"…Yes. I'm fine." Izzy speaks with his face still buried in his hands. He looks up slowly, his eyes fighting back tears. "I'm okay. Thanks for asking." He turns his face away again. Xaimy giggles and smiles at him.

"No you're not. You're miserable, I can tell." Xaimy giggles again. Izzy looks at her, confused as to why she keeps laughing and a little hurt as well. "It's okay. I specialize in comfort." Xaimy smiles wider, leans down and kisses him on his forehead. "Come with me. We have breakfast ready."

"Okay, lead me." A small smile creeps across Izzy's face as he crawls out of the bed and Xaimy takes his hand. She leads him out of the dark room and into the lit-up hallway. She takes him down the grand stair case and to the large kitchen. Axel is already sitting at the table, eating his favorite breakfast of sweet cereal and a toasted bagel. Xaimy leads Izzy to a seat at the table where a plate is ready, filled with more food than Izzy had eaten in days. Bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, toast; everything a man could want at breakfast. His stomach suddenly growls with anticipation and forgotten hunger. Xaimy giggles again.

"What would you like to drink? We have all kinds of juices and even coffee if you drink that." Izzy turns to Xaimy who stands with the refrigerator door open, showing off the plethora of juices for him to consume.

"I don't drink coffee in the mornings. May I have some orange juice?"

"Certainly." Xaimy smiles and fills his request. Axel stops eating his cereal for a moment and looks at Izzy.

"Why don't you drink coffee in the morning? Do you drink it some other time of day?" Izzy sits forward in his chair to talk to Axel.

"Well, typically I'll drink it at night if we…my band, have to stay up really late. Otherwise I'll fall asleep quicker than you can blink." Xaimy comes to the table with two glasses of orange juice, one for herself and the other for Izzy. She takes her seat next to Izzy and begins to eat. Izzy does the same, albeit much faster. Xaimy half watches Izzy eat, being rather amused by how hungry he is. Normally, he would complain about being hungry, even if he ate not too long ago, but with things the way they were, he seemed to act much more refined, or at least quiet.

Before Xaimy had woken Izzy up, she and Axel did some research on him. They found out about the punk rock band he was in, Band Aids, and all they had gone through together. They even listened to the band's number one hit single, Chikn N Gritz, a song Izzy wrote himself. They found out about his past, the illness he had when he was a child and the troublesome years he lived as a teenager up until where he is now…supposedly dead. Throughout his teen years, he and his only three friends formed a band and where almost instant rock stars. After playing for together for about six months, they made a mix CD and sent it off to many record companies. One company went out on a limb and signed them. They never looked back since. They were said to be the tightest band's next to Aerosmith, always there for each other. That is, until Izzy's "payment date" came around. His friends hated him overnight, along with everyone else in the world, leaving him no place to go. He wandered around for two years before giving up and dying; unable to push on for another two years of such torture. Now he sits at Xaimy's kitchen table, eating with the very two people who "rescued" him.

After they all finished breakfast Xaimy takes Izzy's plate, practically clean now, along with her own and places them in the sink. Axel gets up and stretches while Izzy finishes the last of his orange juice. Xaimy looks out of her kitchen window and all the snow that has piled up from last night's storm. She lets out a sigh and smiles.

"I have such a love/hate relationship with snow. Love playing in it, hate having to move it." Axel laughs and walks to the window.

"Well, that's why you have me as a friend. I can just melt it." Axel snaps his fingers, forming a small flame on his pointer fingertip. Izzy, watching from the table, shakes his head in disbelief.

"Did…I just see that right?" he asks in a soft, very confused voice. Xaimy walks over to him and sits down again.

"Yes, you did. I suppose I should explain where you are so you won't be so confused all the time." Xaimy looks down at her hands, then up at Axel, who has returned to his seat as well. "You see, Izzy…you're in the Netherworld right now." Izzy stares blankly at Xaimy. He looks to Axel, hoping this would be some kind of joke.

"You're kidding…right?" Izzy simply doesn't believe what she just told him. Axel speaks up.

"Nope, not at all. You're not in Kansas anymore."

"Vegas." Xaimy corrects him. "His hometown is Las Vegas."

"Whatever. You are in the Netherworld, and with two of the best Gravediggers in the land. One of which is the daughter of the ruler of the land." Axel motions to Xaimy as he speaks. Izzy still stares in disbelief. Xaimy pats his head again.

"Izzy, I know that you probably can't believe what we are telling you, but you _are_ in the Netherworld. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the same as Hell. But you are in the World of the Dead now. There is no way we could bring you back while you were still on Earth, so we brought you here." Izzy turns and looks Xaimy in the eye. He was actually pretty good at being a lie detector, but everything in her stunning red eyes was truth. He felt his stomach sink.

"How…can this be? Will I ever be able to return to my home? To my…band?" He looks at Axel, then back to Xaimy. She sighs heavily; closing her eyes briefly and folds her hands in her lap.

"Izzy, there are complications with your death. Because you were supposed to die ten years ago and because you _did_ die on Earth, there technically isn't much we can do as far as bringing you back to Earth as a live human being. However, until we find out the specifics about the contract you were bound to, we can't do anything. You're lucky you are even here with us. You should be getting judged right about now." The color drains from Izzy's face at the mentioning of the word "judged". Even though he was only 17 years old, he had done many horrible things both to himself and to others. Taking that into account and the fact that he made a deal with the Devil would surely get him sent to Hell. At least he had something to be thankful for. His judgment had been postponed. Xaimy reaches up and cups Izzy's cheek, hoping to soothe him a little. "Don't worry. I promise Axel and I will do our best to get this figured out for you. If all goes well, you may be able to return to life on Earth. Who knows at this point?" Xaimy smiles, moving her hand from his face to his shoulder, then back to her lap. Izzy lets out a heavy sigh, his shoulders dropping as if the weight of the moon was placed upon them.

"I…still can't believe…How could things have come to this? What did I do to deserve all of this?" Izzy closes his eyes and raises a hand to his head, as if he had a headache.

"Don't think of it that way. You make it sound so much more terrible. I told you, Axel and I will figure this out for you. Try not to worry. I know you will regardless, but for your own mental health, try not to. Okay?" Izzy opens his eyes and looks at Xaimy. Her calm, sweet face makes him feel better; however thoughts still swirl around in the back of his mind. He lowers his hand leans back into his chair.

"I…don't want to sound pessimistic, but what exactly can you two do that would make any difference?" Axel chimes back in the conversation.

"Find the bastard devil that bound you to that contract for starters. After that, we need to find the 'specifics' of the contract and perhaps find a loophole in it. We have our own protocol to follow as Gravediggers which we can use to nullify any 'shady' contracts between humans and demons. Seeing as how your contract was initially made when you were too young to really _know_ what was going on, we may be able to use that to nullify the contract." Xaimy then takes over to explain the more difficult part.

"However, if we nullify that contract, you may still die because it was that contract that kept you alive for so long. The deciding factor on whether you will live or die depends on how you treated people while you're life was extended. If the influences you made were more or less good, you may get approval to live again. If not, well…then back to Purgatory to await judgment." Izzy gulps and slouches in his chair. It seemed like he was screwed either way. Xaimy speaks up again. "However, there may also be a bit of a loophole wherein you won't die, but you won't be able to return to Earth. If people on Earth find out you are dead, you definitely cannot return because you cannot break the Laws of the Living." Axel interrupts with some filler information.

"Basically, if a living person knows you are dead, you _have _to stay dead. Law of the Living. There are some exceptions to this, for example if that same person dies before telling any other living person that you are dead then you are allowed to come back." Xaimy nods in agreement.

"If that is the case, then you may end up staying here in the Netherworld, have to die here and then be judged. If you do have you stay here, you can stay with us. However, seeing as how you are basically human and have no special power or anything, dying here won't be that hard." Xaimy looks outside, thinking of all the monsters that could kill Izzy in the blink of an eye. She shudders at the thought. Izzy sighs again. This seems to be all he can do after hearing this reality check.

"So, where do you guys start? How do you begin to find the devil that did this to me?" At this point, Axel stands up and stretches.

"I have a friend in the 'contracting business' that may be able to help me. I'm going to start there. I'm meeting him in about an hour, so I'm going to head out. I'll be back later today and let you guys know if I find something." Xaimy smiles at Axel.

"Be careful while you're out. And dress warm!" Axel laughs and snaps back.

"Woman, I'm practically _made_ out of fire! I'll be fine. See you two later!" And with that, Axel leaves the kitchen and the front door opens, a cold gust rushes in, and closes again. Xaimy stands and pushes in her chair. She walks to where Axel was seated and pushes in his chair as well.

"I am going up to the Library to do some more research. You are more than welcome to come with me if you like. If not, you can wander the mansion and explore it if you like. I just have two rules." For the first time, Xaimy looks at Izzy with a frighteningly serious look. "Do NOT go in the basement. Do NOT go outside. Okay?" Izzy gulps again and nods. For the first time, he felt scared of her. Xaimy then gives him her trademark smile and caring eyes. "Good. If you need anything, use any of the intercoms that are in the rooms. Just find the Library on it and press call. I'll come find you later." And with that Xaimy smiled, turned and left Izzy alone in the kitchen. He sat with his thoughts for a few minutes before feeling restless.

"I guess I'll go explore this place." Izzy spoke to himself. He then got up, pushed in his chair and walked to the nearest doorway. "Who knows, this may be my new home after all."

A/N: Curious to know, who wants Izzy to die again? Anyone? R&R please!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: No own Izzy Sparks -_-

Chapter 4: Bon Voyage

A large, elegant room. Still and quiet. Welcoming and warm. Izzy walks into the large living room of the mansion. There is a large television, a massive surround sound system and two very puffy couches. He plops down on one of them, not able to resist its welcoming plush cushions. The couch sucks him in like marshmallow, making it a bit difficult for him to sit up after letting gravity get the better of him for a few moments. He squirms and sits up finally, taking the time to take in his surroundings. The television is definitely the focal point of the room. It practically dominated the space without even leaving the wall it was mounted on. On the wall behind him, where he walked into the room, there were two sconces with candles and a painting of what looked to be Xaimy, when she was a child. They other walls bared the same wall sconces, but no other decorations. 'This would be great for watching concerts. I bet it would be like actually _being_ there.' Izzy thought to himself as he got up. He walked past the second couch and into the next room, which was a formal dining room. A long table was set up with ten place settings. Very classy dishware was displayed along with very fine crystal. Everything was decked out in black and white, very clean and elegant. To Izzy's surprise, the dishes and glasses were all very clean, as if they had been cleaned today. There wasn't a speck of dust on anything in the room. 'Maybe she's having a dinner party tonight.' Not wanting to risk the chance of breaking anything, he quickly moved on to the next room. He walked down a short hallway; which lead to the front of the house, the Grand Ballroom. There are two staircases here, one to the far left and one to the far right, which both lead to the second floor, where all the bedrooms and library were located. He walked through the ballroom back to the left side, where he found himself back at the kitchen. This time, he notices a door before he gets to the kitchen and decides to explore there. He pushed the door open and discovered a small vestibule for a side entrance into the manor. To his right, he notices a fairly long stair case that leads down to another door. Suddenly Xaimy's words ring back in his mind…

"Do NOT go in the basement. Do NOT go outside."

Ironically enough, he had just found the entrance to both of those forbidden troves. Feeling a little curious, he walks to the side entrance door and peeks through the window. White. All he could see was the pure white snow. It seemed to go on for miles and miles. 'Maybe there is snow on the window and I'm just not seeing anything.' Izzy fights his curiosity and turns back to head to the ballroom. Just then, he hears laughter; very sinister laughter. He turns back around, his sharp ears picking up the sound from his right. It was coming from the basement. No sooner did he turn around to face the stairway did the laughter stop. He felt a chill go down his spine. 'Curiosity killed the cat Izzy. Don't go down there.' Izzy thought to himself. "But…it wouldn't hurt if I just took a peek would it?" Now speaking out loud, he took a step down the staircase. Expecting to hear more laughter, he paused before taking another step. Nothing. He slowly made his way down the stairs before stopping in front of the door. It was a massive door. It reminded him of something a tank would need to bust through in order to open it. He kept his hands at his sides and studied the door for a moment. To his surprise, it was open. It was only open just a crack, but it was definitely open. 'That would explain how I heard the laughter. I bet there's no sound in the world that could penetrate this thing.' He reached out to grab the handle, when suddenly…

"ISHMAEL!" Xaimy screams from the top of the staircase. Izzy snaps around like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. He stares up at here with his large, golden-brown eyes. He can feel the blood drain from his face. "I TOLD you not to come down here!" Xaimy rushes down the stairs, grabs him violently by his arm and pulls him back up the staircase, not letting go until they reach the ballroom. Izzy was surprised and instantly scared by how strong she was. She turns around and stares at him, anger boiling in her red eyes. Izzy feels the blood drain from his entire torso. "Izzy, I understand that you are a rock star and you were practically born to disobey authority. But, in this house, when I say don't do something or go somewhere, I don't say it to punish you. I say it so you won't _die_!" As she speaks, Xaimy's anger slowly subsides. "What the hell were you _thinking_?" She awaited his response. As if there were some logical thing he could say to make the situation better.

"I…I heard something. I just wanted to go check it out…just take a peek. I wouldn't have gone far. I swear I wouldn't!" Izzy stammers over his words. His own mother never had him this scared before. "I promise I'll never do it again. I swear it." Xaimy sighs and tries to calm herself down.

"Izzy, I want to protect you. I want you to not only be safe here, but _feel_ safe here. The only way that is going to happen is if you obey what I tell you. It is literally for your own good. Okay?" Xaimy puts her hand on his shoulder, hoping to ease his obvious fear. All Izzy can do is nod in agreement. Xaimy smiles at him. Not her typical warm, caring smile; but a smile of contentment that she (hopefully) has this understanding with him. "Why don't you come upstairs with me? Perhaps you can help me with some of my research." Izzy nods again and follows Xaimy as she leads him up the left staircase, down the hall of bedrooms and into the library.

The library was at the far west of the mansion, Xaimy's master suite was to the far right. Both are second biggest spaces in the mansion, next only to the Grand Ballroom. Xaimy pushed open the door to the library and walked over to her desk. The library was massive. The walls were lined with shelves from top to bottom. All filled with books. Izzy was never one to be impressed with books; yet seeing this many books collected for one person seemed impressive; at least a little bit. He walked over to Xaimy's desk and took the available seat next to her. She appeared to be doing a very in-depth search for something. Not being very computer savvy, Izzy wasn't sure how he would be able to help her with anything.

"Izzy, do you think you could use Axel's computer over there to help me search for something?" Xaimy pointed across her desk to a second which was set up with another machine.

"Erm, my computer knowledge in searching for stuff doesn't extend past Google. I don't think I'd be of much help." Izzy chuckled at his own technological ignorance. Xaimy giggles as well.

"If that's the case, then do you think you can just help verify some things with me?" Xaimy types away on her computer as she speaks.

"Sure. That shouldn't be any problem. What do you need to know?" Izzy leans back in his chair.

"Well, can you describe the guy who made the contract with you?" Xaimy stops typing and looks at him.

"Well, I don't know how accurate I can be. He looked different both times I saw him."

"I was afraid you'd say that." Xaimy lets out a sigh and continues to type on her computer. "The man who made the contract with you when you were seven years old was just that…a man. He was basically a puppet under the devil's control. That way, once you got out of the hospital and someone asked you to identify the man, the devil himself wouldn't be in any trouble. Can you remember anything about the second meeting?" Izzy bowed his head in deep thought.

"I don't really remember. It was two years ago and well, I've done a lot of drinking in those two years." Xaimy facepalms.

"Izzy, I'm willing to bet you started drinking so much because of the emotional turmoil you were going through. But don't you know that alcohol is a depressant? It only makes matters worse!" Xaimy looks at him with a mock glare.

"Yeah, I know that…But at the time it never seems like a bad idea." Izzy explains innocently. Xaimy sighs again and laughs lightly.

"I suppose when you are sad and depressed it wouldn't seem like a bad idea. Anyway…" Xaimy still stares at him"…tell me your size."

"M-M-My what?" Izzy stares back, dumbfounded and blushing.

"Your size, what's your pants size. You've been in those clothes for at least two days." Xaimy points up and down at his clothing.

"Oh! Oh, I see. I thought you meant something else…Erm, well I can wear anything small. My waist is a 28 and I'm not that tall ha-ha." Izzy laughs and tries to stop himself from blushing. Xaimy giggles and smiles at him.

"If I wanted to know _that_ I could figure it out on my own." Xaimy winks at Izzy, causing him to blush even more. "Come on, I'll show you to the bath house." Xaimy saves her search on her computer and stands to take Izzy someplace where he can wash up. Izzy can't help but think about what Xaimy just said to him. She leads him into a bedroom, seemingly Axel's, and takes some clothing out of the dresser. She hands Izzy a pair of black jeans and a simple white t-shirt. "Okay, these should fit you just fine. They are some of Axel's clothing. I'm sure he won't mind."

"If you say so." Izzy takes the clothing and follows behind her out the room and down the stairs. She leads him to the same vestibule where she caught him red-handed being a bit too curious about the basement. She opens the door to what Izzy thought lead outside, and reveals a hallway (more like a glass tunnel) which connects the main house to a smaller bath house. The glass is covered in snow, which explains why he couldn't see anything when he looked out the small window earlier. Xaimy leads him down this hallway to a door and pushes it open. Izzy's eyes widen with what he sees next.

"This is my bath house. Sometimes I'll spend more time in here than I do in my own room." Xaimy takes a step to the side, allowing Izzy to take in all the sights, sounds and smells of her luxurious bath house. There bathtub was big enough to be a small pool. The shower area had a multitude of sprayers, including a running waterfall. There was steam rising up from the still waters, and sweet smelling aromas filled the air. Xaimy chuckles at his reaction, snapping him out of his trance. "Come along, over here." She takes him gently by the arm and leads him to a small sitting area with benches, towel racks, and square shelves. "When you take off your clothing, leave it on the shelves here. Feel free to use any of the towels you see when you are ready to get out. They are all on heated racks, one of the best features I enjoy." Xaimy giggles and takes the clothing out of Izzy's hands. She places it on a bench and walks over to a wall of drawers. She opens one and pulls out a few bottles. "Here's some soap you can use. One is body wash; the other two are shampoo and conditioner for your hair. I think that's all you'll need. Am I right?" Xaimy places the bottles on top of the clothing and smiles at Izzy.  
"Umm, yes; I think that's all I'll need." 'This is more than I could ever ask for' Izzy thinks to himself. He stood in pure awe of the amazing 'bath tub' and 'shower' that were before him. Just as Xaimy walked towards the door, a thought struck him. "Hey, is this the only bath tub in the house?" Xaimy smiled, and nodded. She knew what was coming next. "Then…anyone who stays here has to use this…together?" Izzy blushed even more at the thought. Xaimy giggled loudly and nodded again.

"Yes, anyone who stays here uses this bath house. Sometimes, multiple people will be in here at once. Axel and I use it together all the time." Xaimy continues to walk to the door, but stops and turns around once more. "Feel free to stay in here as long as you want. The far right of the bath tub is the hottest; the far left is the coldest. You can figure out where you need to be for your cleaning needs." Xaimy giggles once again. "Bon Voyage." With that she takes her leave, closing the door behind her. Izzy sits on the bench, still taking in all the wonders of this place he was in. He breaths in deeply, letting the fragrant clean air fill his lungs. He exhaled and smiled. "I think I could get used to this."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I no own Izzy, or Slash -_- you know this by now

Chapter 5: Crescendo

Beautiful bath house. Warm, steaming water. One naked blonde boy. Now sitting in the waters of the hot side of the tub, Izzy let himself relax. He showered under the waterfall and washed his hair before taking a dip in the bath. Now that he is clean and relaxing, he takes the time to ponder the things that have happened to him recently. His death, his "resurrection", living in the Netherworld and possibly finding the devil that cheated him out of his life in the first place all swam around in his head as he soaked in the water. He reclined and breathed deeply.

"I hope everything works out. I miss them so much." Izzy thought of his band mates. Johnny Napalm, tall and skinny with some sort of spiked hairstyle; Judy Nails with her spiteful attitude, was like a little sister to Izzy; and little Midori, quiet yet full of fun and happiness. He missed all of them. He closed his eyes and saw them. All of them, rocking out on stage in London. Izzy playing his guitar until his fingers bled. Johnny singing his skinny lungs out of his chest, Judy banging on the drums and Midori staying calm and cool with her bass; the crowd is going crazy for the group. Never in his life did Izzy ever think he would miss them so badly. Then again, he never thought he would be in such a predicament in the first place. Two years ago, he would have never thought that he would be separated from them for so long. He felt his heart ache the more he thought about it. He shook his head, water droplets flying everywhere, trying to get those thoughts from his mind. "I need to think on the bright side. No use stressing myself out about this stuff." Izzy stood and walked to the deeper end of the bath tub. He leaned on the side, crossing his arms on the floor and resting his head in his arms. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something more uplifting. He started to wonder about Xaimy and Axel. "I wonder if they're dating or something. They can't be married…Or maybe they are." He sat his head up, resting upright on his chin. He stares at his reflection in a mirror. "She's so beautiful. Her eyes are intoxicating. Then again, I've never seen red eyes like that before. Axel is pretty cool too. He has the power of fire…I wonder what powers Xaimy has. I also wonder what they _are_. They can't be human, heck _I'm _human. Yet Xaimy has been dead for 800 something years." Izzy rests his head back into his arms. It felt like he was giving himself a headache just thinking about all these things. He turned back around, held his breath, closed his eyes and submerged himself in the crystal clear hot water. He let himself suspend in the water for a few moments before standing up again. With his eyes still closed, he shook the access water from his hair. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by Xaimy crouching in front of him, staring at him at the edge of the bath.

"Hi!" Xaimy smiles innocently. Izzy quickly submerged himself again, a reflex when someone walks in on you when you're in the bath. Xaimy giggles childishly as she reaches in the water to tap him on the head. He slowly comes back up to the surface; his hair covering his face. Xaimy laughed even louder, figuring he did that on purpose. "You've been in here for a while, I thought I'd come down and check on you."

"How long were you in here? I didn't even hear the door open." Izzy spoke through his hair. He kept himself close to the edge, hoping to himself that she couldn't see anything below his torso; although a part of him wanted her to. He felt her hands part through his hair and find his face. He was already blushing like mad for some reason, but now he had blood rushing someplace else. Xaimy gently pushed his hair from his face, revealing the red tomato he was. She giggles at the sight, but tries not to make it obvious.

"I'm the master of stealth. Especially in my own home; I can sneak around anywhere and not make a sound." Xaimy spoke with a hint of maliciousness in her voice. She seemed to be well-rehearsed at sneaking up on people in her mansion. "Anyway, it's almost 1:30, and I was wondering if you would like some lunch or something to snack on when you got out." Suddenly, her sweet innocence returned. Izzy nodded.

"Yeah, that would be nice. I'm not really that hungry, but I guess I could use a snack." Izzy tried to sound like himself, but his voice seemed to go up and octave. He was nervous and he didn't know why.

"Okay! I'll have something ready in about twenty minutes. Don't wait too long; you're starting to turn into a raisin." Xaimy grabbed his hand and looked at his fingertips, which were starting to wrinkle from being in the water for so long.

"Umm, yeah I'll be out soon." Xaimy smiled at him, stood up and walked away towards the door. Sure enough, Izzy watched her and couldn't hear her footsteps or the sound of the door when it opened and closed. She left just as quietly as she appeared. "She is stealthy." Izzy let out a sigh, and submerged himself yet again. He rose quickly this time, shook the water from his hair again and looked down at himself. "I need to be in cold water." Izzy leaned against the wall of the tub for a few moments before walking towards the cool end to let himself 'calm down'. After cooling down, he hoisted himself out of the tub, grabbed the nearest towel off of the heated towel rack and dried himself off. He grabbed a smaller towel for his hair, walked over to the bench where his clothes were to get dressed. He realized (and didn't care) that he didn't have any new underwear to change in to. "Guess I'm free-ballin' it. Not like I haven't done it before." He put the pants and shirt on, draped the towel over his head, continuing to pat his hair dry, and walked out to the hallway. He stopped and tried to look through the glass, though it was covered in snow. He managed to see what looked like trees. All around them, as if they were located near a forest. A new thought being sparked in his mind, he continued walking down the hall and into the vestibule. He looked down the stairs to the basement door again. This time, it was wide open. He stopped and stared, wanting badly to go down and take a look; a quick one. Something in his stomach told him not to. He sighed, and started to walk away when he heard the same laughter from earlier; sinister and very demonic. It was like it was taunting him, teasing him to come down and explore for himself. Izzy just shook his head quickly walked through the door leading him back to the Grand Ballroom. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it. "Why do I keep hearing that laugh by that door. What _is_ down there?" Izzy spoke quietly to himself, not wanting Xaimy to hear his vocalized thoughts. Just as he pushed himself off the door to walk to the kitchen, he noticed a smaller door to his right. This door was just under the giant left staircase. The door was about a foot shorter than any normal door, making Izzy think it was just a crawl space, or perhaps some storage. Feeling curious and less frightened, he decided to explore it. He reached out to pull open the door, only to find that it wouldn't budge. He tried pushing it, but that didn't work either. "Okay, either this little door is heavy as hell, or it's locked."

"It's heavy as hell." Izzy jumped and turned around to find himself cornered by Xaimy. His heart was racing because of her sudden appearance.

"Holy shi-goodness, you scared me! You really are good with the stealth thing, aren't you?" Xaimy laughs and gives him her 'matter-of-fact' smile.

"I see your curiosity gets enticed by everything here. Would you like to see what's in there?" Xaimy spoke sarcastically, knowing full well that he did. She also knew he would thoroughly enjoy what was behind that heavy door.

"As long as it's nothing that will harm me and you don't mind, yes I do." Izzy spoke carefully, a little bit nervous at Xaimy's pitch.

"Okay then, pull the door open. It's quite heavy, but you'll see why." After hearing that, Izzy gulped, hoping some sort of creature wasn't waiting to have him for lunch. But he trusted Xaimy and if nothing would harm him, he would believe her. He turned around, grabbed the door handle and pulled, gradually increasing the strength of his pull until the door started to open. Once he had the door open, he peaked inside. Pitch black; only a staircase. Thinking this was a second entrance into the forbidden basement, Izzy quickly looks back at Xaimy only to see her smiling. She walks past him and descends down the stairs. She turns on a light, allowing Izzy to see that there are only about seven stairs, unlike the long stairway that led to the basement door. Xaimy holds her hand out to him, beckoning him to join her. Carefully, he walks down the stairs and enters what seems to be his own personal heaven.

The room was decked out in more musical toys than Izzy could ever dream of. There was a second staircase of about seven stairs that extended the musical arena directly below the Grand Ballroom. There were many guitars mounted on the walls, a drum set any percussionist would be proud of, and a sound system that any guitar company would want to steal and patent. It easily puts Bose to shame. All Izzy could do was stare in awe with his mouth open. Xaimy walked over to a wall, took down one of her guitars, a Gibson 1957 Ebony Les Paul. She walks back over to Izzy who hasn't changed expression at all and holds the guitar out to him.

"Here, I know you haven't played in a while. You must be dying to want to play something, now that you know this room exists." Izzy looks at Xaimy with still shocked eyes. A twinkle of excitement brews in his core. He takes the guitar lightly, as if it was a child, and holds it in his hands. Xaimy straps the guitar on him, and turns on an amp. She plugs it in to the guitar, all while Izzy still stands in amazement. He first strums lightly, as if testing to see if the guitar would vanish or something. Xaimy laughs and slaps him on the back. "Go on, play it like you mean it." Izzy broke out of his shell. Everything he played was totally impromptu, yet it still sounded like a cohesive song. He played ear piercing riffs, mind melting solos, and a chorus that would rile a crowd of stone. Xaimy sat on the stairs and listened. She watched how Izzy moved, how he practically danced with the guitar. She now saw firsthand why so many girls would pay $45 to sit in the back of a concert hall just to get a glimpse of him. He was amazing. He cradled the guitar like a baby, yet still rocked it so hard anyone standing nearby would sustain major damage to their ribcage. Xaimy closed her eyes for a moment and let the music Izzy was playing dance in her mind. It seemed to come from his very soul and spoke to her loud and clear. She could hear a boy crying out to be taken home, a boy who missed the friends that became his family. The music became a poem to her; a sad poem with no sure conclusion, only confusion. She opened her eyes again and continued to watch him. He slowly began to end his song, turning it into a ballad that sounded all too familiar. Soon, he stopped and was standing in silence, holding the guitar to his chest, as if it were his only lifeline. Xaimy stood up, walked to him and put her arms around him from behind. Izzy subconsciously leaned backwards into her embrace, still cradling the guitar in his arms. Xaimy smiled, grabbed the guitar from him and lifted it off his body. She set it aside and hugged him some more.

"I miss it so much. Being with my band; out on stage playing our hearts out and listening to the screaming fans…I miss it so, _so_ much. Xaimy squeezed him a bit harder.

"I know. I could hear it in you. I could almost hear your entire band in your playing. I can tell that you miss them a lot. I understand it too." Izzy turned around to look at her. She gave him a sympathetic smile before taking the guitar and putting it back in its place. Izzy walked behind her and looked at the other guitars she had mounted. Some were guitars, some were bass and some were acoustic. She even had a few 12 string guitars.

"This is a very impressive collection." Izzy couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. He'd have more spending money for guitars if he and Johnny didn't always trash their hotel rooms. But that was always too fun to pass up. While inspecting the collection Xaimy had, he noticed one guitar mounted on the wall in a glass case. "Xaimy, what's this one? Is it special or something?" he asked pointing to the guitar in question. Xaimy turns around, her face smiling softly.

"Yes it is. That guitar is my most recent purchase. It's modeled after the 1958 standard Gibson Les Paul, it has a solid one piece body made of mahogany, and was hand-aged to look the way it does." Xaimy walks over to where Izzy is standing, in front of the guitar.

"Okay…that sounds nice, but you can have that done with any custom guitar." Izzy sounded rather unimpressed.

"Yes, that is true. But this one was aged approximately 23 years, to 1987."

"Why then?" Izzy continued to study the guitar, looking for something to be impressed about.

"Because that's when Guns N Roses released their album Appetite for Destruction."

"And?"

"And it was the first album Slash used a Gibson Les Paul to record. You see, this is a custom guitar, replicated and aged to be just like Slash's current guitar, same hardware and everything. And on top of that, Slash signed it." Xaimy smiles, looking at the guitar fondly. Izzy turns and looks at her with wide eyes.

"…What? Are you serious?" Izzy looks closer at the guitar, trying to find the signature. He hears Xaimy giggle before she reaches up and opens the case. She takes the guitar down, shows him the back of the headstock and there it was; Slash's signature written in Sharpie pen and laminated into the back of the guitar. If Izzy's eyes could get any bigger, they would. "Holy shit. How…did you get this? It's amazing." Izzy managed to raise his eyes to Xaimy's face, hoping she would cough up her secret.

"Well, actually there are 100 in existence, but only 50 of them were signed. There are also 300 un-aged guitars as well. None of those are signed though. Slash gave this one to me himself." Xaimy giggled at the memory, which wasn't too long ago. Izzy steps back, as if breathing on it would be a sin of some sort.

"I see why you keep it in a case like that. Wait, you said he gave that to you _himself_!" Izzy suddenly registered what she said. Xaimy returns the guitar to its resting place. She looks at Izzy and nods casually. "That's like...the crescendo of guitars! How did you _get_ it?" Izzy was too shocked to think of anything else. Xaimy just signed and smiled.

"Come on, I'll explain over lunch. I'm getting hungry now." Xaimy took Izzy by his wrist and lead him back upstairs. She pushed the heavy door closed and they walked to the kitchen, where they sat down for lunch which was prepared for them. 'At least we'll have a fun conversation topic while we eat.'

A/N: if you dont know any of the guitars mentioned, google image search them :3 Story starts slow, I know, but the adventure will soon begin!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: No own Izzy or slash -_- you know this by now

Chapter 6: Hunting

While sitting in the kitchen, eating a small lunch of turkey sandwiches and pretzels, Xaimy decided to elaborate on her musical collection before going into detail about the guitar she showed to Izzy, given to her by Slash. Izzy was all ears.

"My father taught me how to play just about every instrument any human has ever made and mass produced. However, I stayed very particular to guitars for some reason. I just love them. When I was alive on the surface, Earth, I would sort of collect them. Heck I still do whenever I get the chance."

"Does that mean you can go back up to Earth and actually be seen by people? Even though you're dead?" Izzy asked, trying to patch up the holes in his understanding.

"Yes, I can. I'm not human anymore. I'm a demon and so is Axel. We don't abide by the Laws of the Living as you do. Anyway, not too long ago Slash made an announcement that he and the Gibson guitar company made a deal to release replicas of his own guitar. Like I said, only 100 aged replicas were made, of which only 50 were signed by him. I knew about it for a while and paid for mine in advance. I got the first one Slash signed." Xaimy smiled wide and took a bite of her sandwich. Izzy had already finished his lunch.

"How much did it cost?"

"Somewhere around $16,000." Xaimy takes another bite of her sandwich. Izzy's eyes widen and jaw drops. "Don't be surprised, you're residing in my mansion for crying out loud." Xaimy speaks with her mouth full. Izzy snaps out of his shock. He processes the thought before thinking of something else he didn't understand.

"So…how did Slash deliver it to you?" Xaimy munched a few pretzels.

"He came to my front door with it." Izzy, still confused, continues to stare at Xaimy. "Oh right, you don't know that story. Well you see; Slash sold his soul to the devil a _long_ time ago. He's technically dead for about 23 years." Izzy's jaw dropped again. Xaimy simply sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "Yea I know; it's a little hard to believe. He made a kick-ass deal though."

"How could selling your soul to the devil ever be a kick-ass deal!" Izzy was beyond shocked and was barely able to understand what he was hearing. It was all a lot to take in.

"Well, he never told me the specifics on _why_ he did it. The main part of his deal was that no harm could come to anyone he loved; not his family, not his friends, not even his business associates nor could any harm come to him either." Xaimy finished off the rest of her sandwich. Izzy sat back and thought about the deal he just heard about.

"So, I take it that once your soul is gone, you're technically dead? I have my soul back so I'm alive…right?" Xaimy munched her last handful of pretzels. Before Xaimy started talking again, they heard the front door open and close.

"The Laws of the Living state that any human being without a soul is considered dead, even if they still reside on Earth. However, any human being with or without a soul whom resides anywhere other than Earth, meaning Heaven, Hell or the Netherworld, shall be considered dead until Judged. You can be judged and given life back on Earth, so it's more of a case-by-case basis." Just then, Axel walks in. He gives a haphazard wave to Izzy and Xaimy before collapsing into a chair. He lets out a heavy sigh.

"Oh my gosh, that was more work than I thought it would be." He sits up slightly and looks at Xaimy. "What have you two been up to all day?" Xaimy stands and takes hers and Izzy's plates to the sink.

"Nothing much; I did some research and Izzy just explored the manor. Were you able to meet with your friend?" Xaimy sits back down.

"Yes, I was. He was on Earth 'contract-ing' so I just tagged along for a few hours. I got a few leads on where we might find the devil that contracted Izzy." Axel then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. "Here's an address. Look it up when you get the chance Xaimy." He slides the paper across the table to her. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a folded section of newspaper. "Izzy, people are starting to wonder where you are. Take a look at this." He gives him the scrap of newspaper. It's a minor headline.

THE BAND AIDS' LEAD GUITARIST GOES MISSING!

Guitarist Izzy Sparks has been reported missing by fellow band mates and their manager. When reporters asked singer Johnny Napalm about the last known sighting of Izzy, he replied, "Izzy was with us the night of our last concert in Detroit. We all had a huge argument and he stormed out. He returned about a week later, drained the band of his share from our bank account and left! We haven't seen him since." No reward has been issued for him yet; however anyone having information on his whereabouts are encouraged to call the police.

Izzy let out a sigh and drops the piece of paper onto the table. "Good luck to them finding me." He slouches into his chair, his smile gone. "I'm actually surprised this is just now showing up. I left them three months ago." Xaimy picks up the piece of newspaper, reading the small section.

"You drained your entire share of the band's money and it only lasted for three months?" Xaimy looked up at Izzy, slightly confused.

"Well, I didn't take my entire share. We decided in the beginning that we wanted to have all our money from each tour joined into one account until the tour was over. Then the money would be divided amongst the four of us. I checked how much was there, and took a little less than a quarter the amount. We had a really bad argument and I figured they would hate me for the next three years anyway. So I took it and left." Izzy tried not to sound sad, but he couldn't help it. The last time he spoke to his band mates, they all hated him for one reason or another. Midori thought he was mean all the time, Johnny thought he was always trying to upstage the rest of the band, and Judy…more or less always hated him for something, but even more so because of the turmoil he had to be put through.

"Well, at least now they are reaching out to try and find you and hopefully, they will." Xaimy smiled and touched Izzy's hand. He looked up at her and tried to smile, but it wouldn't happen. Even Axel could see the sadness in Izzy's eyes. Knowing that Izzy would need some cheering up, Axel spilled some more information he obtained.

"On the somewhat bright side, I did manage to register Izzy for travel to Earth. He'll be a ghost, but at least he'll be able to search with us." Xaimy smiled wider.

"That's wonderful! Hopefully if he's with us, we can find that damn devil quicker." Xaimy sounded more optimistic that she wanted to. This helped Izzy to some extent. He sighed heavily.

"Well, I suppose I could help somehow. Being a ghost doesn't sound too bad." Izzy thought about traveling back to Earth and possibly seeing his band members, his friends, again. It would suck that they wouldn't be able to see him, but he wanted to know if they were alright. Xaimy stood up and pushed in her chair. She grabbed the piece of paper with the address on it.

"I'm going to go upstairs and look this place up. I'll see if I can find any helpful information in the database." Xaimy left for her library. Axel sat up in his chair, stretching his back and arms. He looked and noticed Izzy was wearing his clothes. He thought about that fact for a moment.

"…Are you wearing my underwear?" Izzy looked up at Axel, then down at his own clothing.

"Well, no. Actually I'm not wearing any at the moment." Izzy said with a small chuckle.

"Oh…Then you can keep those pants." Izzy face-palmed, then looked back at Axel.

"I, I'm sorry. It was rather inconsiderate of me."

"You don't have to apologize. I'm sure Xaimy gave them to you in the first place. Not that I mind at any rate." Izzy crossed his arms on the table and rested his head on his arms. He had a question burning in his stomach, something he couldn't ask Xaimy herself.

"Hey Axel, is Xaimy…taken? Or is she-

"Stop." Axel interrupts Izzy before he can finish.

"Huh?" Izzy looks at Axel to see him staring him in the eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know if you two were together or not." Axel laughs before staring back at Izzy.

"Dude, there isn't enough money in the world to make me even _try_ dating that girl. I'd start selling my body parts before that happens." Izzy was confused.

"Then, who is she with?" Izzy tried to get a straight answer.

"Well, she's single, but it's because she wants to be. Any guy that has ever dated her has either ended up mentally unstable or dead." Izzy stared at Axel with wide eyes. "There are many guys here who want her hand in marriage, and only one guy who ever got it. He was the only guy she ever actually loved."

"Where is he now?" Izzy was almost too scared to ask.

"Hell. He pissed off one too many angels and was sentenced to a second death. He died, again, and lost all the memories of his previous death, including Xaimy and their children." Izzy did a double take.

"…Children?"

"Yeah, she has two kids, a son and a daughter. They reside on Earth. She rarely gets to see them, and probably won't see them again until they die and are sent down here." Izzy laid his head back down on his arms.

"I never would've guessed. There's so much to know about her." Gaining the knowledge that Xaimy was once married and has two children would normally detour many men, but for some reason, Izzy liked the idea of stability. After all, being hated by everyone for two whole years made him rather susceptible to anything that gave him comfort. While Izzy played with his thoughts, Axel stood up and stretched.

"Well, I am tired so it's naptime for me! I'll see you again when I wake up." Axel pushes in his chair and leaves the kitchen. Izzy stays there, his head still resting on his arms. After a few minutes of being alone, he stands up and walks to the music room Xaimy introduced him to. He pulls open the heavy door and closes it behind him.

"I bet this thing is sound-proof. That's probably why it's so damn heavy." He walks down the small flight of stairs and over to the same guitar Xaimy gave him to play, the Gibson 1957 Ebony Les Paul. He plugs it into the same amplifier, sits on the stairs and plays a simple riff. He plays a song of soft notes, having a sort of lullaby feel to it. He leaned back onto the stairs, still playing his soft riff, pretty much lulling himself to sleep. He then stood up and sat by the amp, leaning on it as he began to fall asleep. He cradled the guitar in his arms like a child and soon fell asleep.

After a few (more like 8) hours, Xaimy finally emerged from her library and started to search for Izzy and Axel. She found Axel in his room, sleeping peacefully. She was about to walk into her room when a thought hit her as to where Izzy was most likely to be located. She turned around and headed for her music room. She walked in and found Izzy sleeping soundly against the amplifier. She smiled at the sight, part of her not wanting to disturb him. Figuring he was there for at least a few hours, she knew she had to get him upstairs and into a warm bed. She kneels down and taps him on his shoulder. She then gently shakes him until he wakes. Izzy jumps, clutching the guitar and pulling away from her. When he realizes where he is, he calms down and relaxes. He sighs and closes his eyes. He had another nightmare while he was sleeping. Xaimy smiles and sits next to him. A tear rolls down his eye, causing him to look away from Xaimy. She reaches out and cups his cheek, turning his face back towards her. Izzy looks down, not wanting to look in her eyes. Xaimy wipes the tear from his face and sings softly to him.

"Smile, though your heart is aching. Smile, even though it's breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by if you smile through your fears and sorrows. Smile, it may be tomorrow; you'll see the sun come shining through for you." Xaimy pauses in her song and kisses Izzy on his forehead. He stares back up at her, entranced by her soft voice. "Light up your face with gladness. Hide every trace of sadness. Although a tear maybe ever so near; that's the time you must keep on trying. Smile, what's the use of crying? You'll find that life is still worth while, if you'll just smile." Xaimy cups Izzy's face in both of her hands and kisses him lightly on the lips. Izzy blushes, only slightly, his eyes half closed. Xaimy stares into his entranced eyes and giggles. She takes the guitar from him, leaning it against the wall. She takes his hands and lifts him up. "Come on, it's time for bed." Izzy smiles, but it's different than all his other smiles. This one shows happiness, true happiness and contentment. He squeezes her hand back.

"Lead me." Xaimy giggles again and turns to lead him upstairs.

"You'll need plenty of rest. Our adventure starts tomorrow; we start devil hunting." Xaimy takes him upstairs to her pitch black room, not before giving him a pair of pajamas to sleep in. He climbs through the curtain surrounding the bed and buries himself under the blanket. Xaimy soon finds him and lies next to him. Izzy curls up, staying close to her. To his surprise, she wraps her arms around him, and cuddles him to her chest. Blushing yet again, Izzy smiles to himself.

"Goodnight Xaimy."

"Goodnight Ishmael."

A/N: Okay so far no one has reviewed any of my chapters and its quite annoying :/ I want some sort of feedback! So please leave a review. Thank you!


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